1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit apparatus of a vehicle lamp. More particularly, the present invention relates to a circuit apparatus for a vehicle lamp adopting light emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. Description of Related Art
Due to the breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing technology, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been developed for lighting applications. LEDs have also become a major light source and have started to replace more traditional light sources. Additionally, LEDs have the advantages of low power consumption, long lifetime, small size and fast response. Therefore, LEDs have become an important lighting component in the next generation of light sources.
According to the evolvement of automotive technology, LEDs have been extensively used in vehicles. LEDs are used as brake lights, indicator lights, dashboard lights and a dome light to replace traditional light bulbs, i.e. halogen bulbs or incandescent light bulb.
Moreover, a traditional circuit apparatus of a vehicle lamp comprises LED components that are directly connected to each other in series in advance, and then are connected in parallel. The circuit apparatus does not have any protection device. Once one of the LED components in the circuit apparatus is broken, the other LED connected in series in the same path will not work because of the aforementioned series-parallel connections. This not only influences the traveling safety but also makes maintenance and inspection of the LED circuit apparatus more difficult. Moreover, LED components are easily damaged by electrostatic discharge. The traditional circuit apparatus does not prevent this situation from occurring, thus it is necessary to provide a circuit apparatus of a vehicle lamp.